CARDIAC CARDS: Wayne County wins district crown in penalties over Somerset Christian

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Members of the Wayne County boys' soccer team celebrate with junior goalkeeper Reese Jones after the Cardinals clinched a shootout victory for the 48th District title over Somerset Christian on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.

MONTICELLO - In the first of the 48th District title games on Tuesday evening, the hosting Wayne County Cardinals were considered the odds-on favorite over the Somerset Christian Cougars, a team that they had beat two times prior in the regular season as well as just one week ago 3-1. Apparently no one told the Cougars though, as Somerset Christian seemed to be in control for a majority of the contest.

By the end of the game, fans had witnessed a classic on the pitch as the two teams were tied 2-2 after two overtime periods to force a penalty shootout. The Cardinals came up big with three successful attempts, giving Wayne County the district crown with a 3-2 victory after penalty kicks.

A close attempt by Wayne County in the fourth minute was no good after an offsides call on the Cards in the fourth minute. Two minutes later, sophomore Yandel Pineda had a shot that bounced off the left crossbar, before Isaiah Hensley had the first good look for the Cougars a minute later. Cougar goalkeeper Gavin Lewis had some noteworthy saves during the early stages of the contest.

Nolan Mattingly and Kaden Johnson had shots in the 22nd and 25th minute respectively that were stopped by the defense of the Cardinals. They weren't able to stop a goal from Mattingly in the 26th minute though, as the senior connected on a header into the right side of the goal to put the Cougars up 1-0. Hensley and Nikas Thannoli each had shot attempts narrowly miss two minutes later.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Somerset Christian junior Trey Hogan (top) gets tackled by a Wayne County defender during the Cougars' loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Dylan Stephenson earned the first of several yellow cards dealt out by the referees in the 31st minute. Elijah Brummett had a shot in the 32nd minute that just barely missed the top side of the goal. Lewis had a miraculous save on a leap following a shot from Donavan Perez in the 37th minute, with his team taking the 1-0 edge into the break.

Yellow cards were called on Kaden Johnson and Colson Vaughn in the early stages of the second half as play was starting to become chippy on both sides. Wayne County finally connected on a look in the 56th minute, as Perez's shot sailed into the top right portion of the net to tie things up at 1-1. Perez was then called for a yellow card just two minutes later. Another Cardinal was ejected in the 65th minute of the contest.

It looked like the game was heading into overtime until a goal from Kaden Johnson went into the right side of the net after some dribbling from the senior, giving the Cougars a 2-1 lead with just seven minutes left in the contest. Turns out, the Cardinals were able to indeed send this game into overtime after a goal that deflected off the head of a Somerset Christian defender in the 76th minute, with the teams tied at 2-2 after the end of the second half.

Neither team could get much going in the way of offense in both of the overtime periods, with the game being decided with penalty kicks. Funny enough, that is how the Cougars won their first-ever district title a few years ago over the Cards. The first shot by Wayne was good before Kaden Johnson equalized things with his successful PK. Stephenson hit his penalty kick before the attempt from Kyler Johnson was deflected by goalkeeper Reese Jones, making it 2-1.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Wayne County junior goalkeeper Reese Jones (1) kicks the ball away from Somerset Christian junior Isaiah Hensley (center) during the Cardinals' contest against the Cougars on Tuesday evening.

Wayne County made it 3-1 after another successful attempt, with an attempt from Brummett being wide of the net. After a save from Lewis on the fourth Cardinal attempt, Hensley had to make his penalty to prolong the shootout. Jones was able to dive and deflect the shot though, handing the Cardinals the shootout victory and the 48th District title with a 3-2 victory over the Cougars.

The 48th District All-Tournament Team was announced following the game. Representing Southwestern was Shubh Patel and Jonathan Goleman, representing Somerset Christian was Gavin Lewis, Elijah Brummett and Kaden Johnson, and representing Wayne County was Zachary Hesse, Dylan Stephenson, Donavan Perez and Reese Jones.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Somerset Christian senior Nolan Mattingly (17) celebrates with senior goalkeeper Gavin Lewis (1) after a goal during the game between the Cougars and the Wayne County Cardinals on Tuesday.

Wayne County, now 11-8-1, and Somerset Christian, now 7-9-1, will both advance to next week's 12th Region Tournament.

Independent local stories like this are available to capture the essence of local sports. Support my continued independent work solely funded by donations. Local sport stories always deserve full coverage, it is my passion to highlight the talent and hard work put in by our youth. If you feel like donating, my Venmo is @PRATT-3523.